This invention relates to a guide assembly for an apparatus for the fluid treatment of fabrics in rope form, especially suited for an apparatus so-called a wince or winch machine.
The treatment of fabrics in rope form by partial passage through a bath containing a bleaching or dyeing medium is well-known and many kinds of apparatus for performing such treatments have been described in, e.g., Ziegler et al U.S. Pat. No., 3,308,639 and British Patent No. 1,076,680.
Wince machines as described in the above patents were generally designed for treatment of fabric in rope form within a liquid bath by a continuous feed of fabric in a form of a plurality of convolutions through partial passage in said liquid.
The convolution must be shifted regularly in the longitudinal direction, in other words, in a direction parallel to an axis of the wince roller to assure a uniform treatment of the fabric with the liquid. This shift was performed by a rotating helical guide or a movable peg rack which is rotated transversely through the rotated fabric convolutions by a sprocket-belt conveyer means.
These type of guide members have the following disadvantages:
1. Irregular treatment of fabric due to the continuous engagement with the helical flights or extending fingers of the guide members.
2. Entangelement of adjacent convolutions of fabric so-called "jumping" due to open pockets defined by said adjacent helical flights or fingers.
3. Necessity of exchange of helical guide member having various pitches to alter the shift distance.
The disadvantage of the above (1) may result in an insufficient treatment of fabric, e.g., dyeing specks, and the above (2) will cause a destruction of the machine unless some safety measure is provided. The exchange of the helical guide members of the above (3) is a troublesome and time consuming operation.